


Ess Oh Ess

by WhatHaveWeDone



Category: Thunderbirds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-05-02 07:13:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19194208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatHaveWeDone/pseuds/WhatHaveWeDone
Summary: My contribution to the influx of fic after SOS part 2 - inspired by a tumblr post about a glance Scott and John share at the hospital.





	1. Chapter 1

Standing in the sterile hospital room, a woozy yet talking Gordon slowly starting to make more sense, Scott was hyper aware of everything around him. From the soft electric hum of the life saving equipment to the shuffle of footsteps in the corridor his sense were on such high alert he was positively vibrating. Everyone was shifting slightly: nervous, worried, relieved -  coming down from their own adrenaline spikes – which only made John’s stillness more noticeable. 

John usually had excellent posture but there was something else to him right now. A stiffness that can only come from keeping your emotions tightly under wraps. And he looked – calm. Too calm. Not the calm of an everyday-stressful shift on Thunderbird Five, or of relaxing at home with family. This was calm masking anger in a way only family would see through. 

Scott had only seen him this angry once before, many years ago. Alan had just been getting into video games and was deemed old enough to play online unsupervised. Scott never found out what the other player had said to upset Alan so much he didn’t touch a controller for a month, or what that person’s real name was. He did find out what John did and let’s just say that reset passwords and suddenly empty in-game purses were the least of their worries. 

“John,” he said, softly so as to not draw attention, “I know that look, and -” 

“Don’t,” John cut across him, not even turning. He also kept his voice to a murmur, harsh as it was.  “Don’t give me another lecture on ‘proportional response’ or ‘misuse of IR tech’ or ‘we’re all about the rescue’- ” 

“I wasn’t - “ 

 “ - This wasn’t an accident or an unintended consequence. The Hood tried to _kill_ my little brother - ” 

“I know, I - “ 

“ - And he nearly succeeded. As soon as I’m back on Five I’m going to re-task EOS: I'll install her a hundred new processors if I have to - ” 

“I was going to say - “ 

“ - with her one hundred percent focused there will be no-where he can hide. I’m going to have him.” 

“If you will just let me finish!” Scott hissed frustrated, and John at last turned to glower at him. Scott returned his stare, no stranger to matching his will against a head strong younger brother.  

“I was going to say that we can not under any circumstances compromise the operation - “  Scott raised an eyebrow as John looked like he was going to interrupt again “but at the first opportunity I want you to _hunt the bastard down._ Just remember we all want in when you find him. _”_  

They shared a moment of resolute fury and John gave a barely-there nod, before turning back to Gordon. Scott had every confidence that The Hood’s days of freedom were numbered, and he better hope the GDF got to him first.  


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so much other fic to write. Some in this fandom, some in others. This fic was finished - it was a qucik 500 word snippet. So which was the one I have inspiration to write? Of course.
> 
> So here is chapter two of this one chapter fic, and I have an idead for another chapter as well *shakes head*

John floated calmly through the command centre of Thunderbird Five. He was calm on the outside at least, he always was. You couldn’t afford to be anything less when you were convincing a scared, trapped child to stay put rather than running off in a panic, or convincing a slightly suspicious nation to grant  access through their airspace.

He had stayed calm on the outside when he had guided the others to the wreckage of Thunderbird Four despite the worry worming through his gut, and almost successfully hidden the raging anger that had been stoked by seeing his little brother wrapped in bandages and casts. It was no surprise that Scott had seen right through him: seen the fury burning there and done his best to rein him in. He wouldn’t compromise the operation – even the barest suggestion was offensive – but he was going to start the hunt now that his fury had been reduced to a fine steady simmer. 

“EOS” He called to grab her attention. “I have a job for you.”

“I hope it’s a challenge” her voice chimed through the air “It can get very boring when you are as smart as I am.”

“I’m sure it can.” He glided to the main console, and started work on dividing up the station’s resources. “I’m putting in a partition and separating out a dozen cores for you to use. You’ll have to work within them exclusively for now and stay out of all other IR functions, but hopefully it won’t be for long.”

“Stay out? But how will you ever manage without me?” She teased.

John continued to work. “I managed just fine before you EOS, I’m sure I can remember how to do all of my job.”

“If you call inefficient and run ragged fine but....” Her scolding trailed off into curiosity. “What is more important than the smooth  running of Thunderbird Five?”

“I want you to find the Hood. I want to know everything about him: his childhood, his favourite food, where he likes to go for coffee. I want every shell company, every bank account, every known or even suspected associate. I want to know where he’s been so we can predict where he’s going. I’ll start you off with all the files from the GDF.”

“They’ve given them to you? I thought they were classified?”

“They are.”

There was a pause. John continued to work. EOS broke the silence, saying slowly. “That almost sounds like you intend to hack into their database and take the data without asking. Which would be  _ rude _ . And  _ illegal _ .”

John didn’t confirm or deny that, but EOS should know by now that John did whatever was necessary to get the job done. Sometimes it was charting his brothers' a course through what was meant to be a no-fly zone because there just wasn’t time to submit flight plans in advance. Or at all. 

Sometimes is was  _ ahem  _ borrowing  _ ahem  _ a satellite to complete a below surface scan when theirs weren't quite in the right position. 

And sometimes it was hacking into the mainframe of the planet’s premier defence organisation, ignoring all the sensitive technological files and stealing just the ones he needed to give to his AI friend, in order to hunt down a murderous  megalomaniac . Some rules could be broken. Especially if no-one else ever found out. 

“Don’t worry, we won’t do any harm and Scott is aware.” Or he should be, if he had thought through the implications of their conversation at the hospital. Maybe he had been too angry to think clearly, but that was a problem for later. 

“I will set to work as soon as you have prepared the partition, and no longer monitor or aid in International Rescue missions as all my processing power will be dedicated to this task. Something I have observed is that at times of high emotion a human’s judgement can become impaired. Be careful your anger does not cloud  _ your _ judgement John.”

John nodded absently, working to set up EOS with the memory and power she needed while thinking through all the tasks that EOS had taken on that he would now be taking back. He was fine, his anger was under control and it would stay that way. 


End file.
